Trolley-head.



J. P.- MOKINZIE.

TROLLEY HEAD.

APPLIOATION FILED mmm, 1910.

9895626. Y Patented Apr.18,1.911.

JAMES F. MCKINZIE, OF LA SALLE, ILLINOIS.

TROLLEY-HEAD.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Apr. 18, 1911.

Application filed January 15, 1910. Serial No. 538,273.

To all whom it may concern.'

Be it known that I, J AMES F. MGKINZIE, a citizen of the United States, residing at La Salle, county of Lasalle, and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Trolley Heads, of which the following is a specication.

My invention relates to trolley7 heads and has for its object t-he production of a. device of such character which will be 'eliicient in operation and of durable and lasting construction. l

A further object is the provision of a trolley head in which the trolley harp will be of such improved construction as to adapt the same to support the trolley wheel in such a manner that the lat-ter may be readily and expeditiously removed for renewal when desired without necessitating the detachment of the head from the trolley pole such as is required in vdevices of this nat-ure in common use at the present time in order to eect such replacement.

Other objects will-appear hereinafter.

With these objects in view my invention consists in a trolley head characterized as above mentioned and in certain details of construction and arrangement of parts all as will be hereinafter fully described and particularly pointed out in the appended claim.

My invention will be more readily understood by reference to the accompanying` drawings forming a part of this specification, and in which,

Figure 1 is a side elevation of my device in its preferred form, Fig. 2 is a section taken on line wof Fig. 1, Fig. 3 is a partially sectional side elevation of the trolley wheel, Figs. 4f and 5 are detail perspectives of the ball-race-forming members of the trolley wheel, Fig. 6 is a side elevation of the movable arm of the trolley harp, detached, Fig. 7 is a detail perspective of one of the ball-race-forming members of the harp arms, and Fig. S is a detail perspective of one of the retainers for holding the ballrace-forming members in position upon the harp arms.

Referring now to the drawings 1 indicates the body of the trolley harp comprised of the ordinary socket-forming portion 2 for the reception of the upper extremity of the trolley pole, the integral relatively stationary arm 3 and t-he relatively movable arm 4, an integral hinge lug 5 of the latter being` secured by means of a hinge pin 6 between lugs 7 formed upon said harp body for the reception thereof. Said arms are preferably of a circular form and the inner surfaces thereof are provided with correspondingly positioned annular grooves 8. Arranged in each of said ygrooves is a correspondingly formed ring or ball-race-forming member 9 of a suitable hardened metal. ln order to prevent rotation of said rings in said grooves, each of the former is provided with projecting peripheral ears 10 which engage Vcorrespondingly positioned recesses 11 provided in the inner surfaces of the harp arms adjacent the grooves therein, as clearly shown in Fig. 6.

Arranged between the arms Band et coaxially therewith is a trolley wheel 12 provided with the usual peripheral groove 13 for the reception of the ordinary overhead electric wire or conductor 14. Conoentrically arranged in each of 4the sides of said trolley wheel is an annular groove 15 of a diameter such as to adapt the same for registration with the grooves 8. Arranged in each of the grooves 15 is a correspondingly formed ball-race-forming ring 16 of hardened metal, the saine being held against rotary movement therein by means of projecting lugs 17 formed upon the inner side thereof and which engage correspondingly positioned recesses 18 formed in the bottom of said grooves. Interposed between the opposing race-forming members 9 and 16 are sets of bearing balls 19, the latter evidently constituting the supporting medium for t-he trolley wheel in the harp.

Having an enlargement or projecting ear 20 thereof secured, as by screws or other suitable securing devices 21, to the inner surface of each of the harp arms 3 and l, the body 22 thereof being disposed concentrically to and in engagement with peripheral flange 16 lof the ball-race-forming member 16 contiguous to each of said arms 3 and 4L, is a resilient retaining member 23. Hence, with this provision, the trolley wheel, it is evident, may be removed from the harp without occasioning the displacement of the bearing balls or the ball-raceforming members 16 from, or altering their relative arrangement upon, the harp arms.

Centrally arranged in and extending between the harp arms 3 and 4L is a headed pin 24. By means of a nut 25 threaded upon the extremity of said pin and engaging the movable harp arm 4, the latter evidently is held in operative position and may be adjusted thereby relative to the stationary arm 3 to effect a free or proper operation of the ball bearings coperating therewith.

The trolley wheel is provided with a central opening 26 through which extends in a central position the pin 24. The sides of said opening are provided with a plurality of longitudinally extending slots 27. IIaving their base portions 28 dove-nailing with said slots are inwardly projecting contact brushes 29 contacting at their inner eX- tremities with the pin 24, as clearly shown in Fig. 3. With this provision the current from the conductor engaged by the trolley wheel is conducted from the latter through said brushes 29 t-o the pin 24, through the latter to the harp arms and thence to the trolley pole. By the provision of said brushes the current is not required in its passage from the trolley wheel to the trolley pole to pass through the ball bearings of the trolley wheel, and whereby an unreliable means of connection is avoided and an eiiicient and reliable connection estab lished.

With a trolley wheel and harp of the construction as shown and described, upon the former wearing out or for other reasons requiring renewal, the nut 25 needs only to be removed and the pin 24C slid outwardly to disengage the trolley wheel, whereupon the latter, upon swinging the movable harp arm outwardly to the position, as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 2, may be lifted out of place. The bearing balls, and the ballrace-forming members 16, because ot the provision of the retainers E23, will, in such removal, be held in position upon the harp arms, as before described. The contact brushes providedv in the removed wheel may now be readily removed therefrom and arranged in the new wheel, whereupon the latter may be easily and quickly arranged l in position between the trolley harp arms and locked therebetween by reinserting the pin 24 and adjusting the nut 25 thereon. This operation, it will be observed, may all be carried on without necessitating the removal ot' the trolley harp. Therefore, with the provision ot' a trolley head of the construction shown and described one in which the trolley wheel will be free to operate in the trolley harp, one in which the current will be eifectually conducted from the trolley Wheel to the trolley harp and one in which the trolley wheel may be readily replaced, will be provided.

While I have shown what I deem to be the preferable foim of my device I do not wish to be limited thereto, as there might be various changes made in the details of coi'istruction and the arrangements oi parts described without departing from the spirit of the invention comprehended within the scope of the appended claim.

Having described my invention what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

In a device of the character described, the combination of a support having a stationary and a movable bearing piece; a wheel arranged between said bearing pieces; registering annular grooves arranged in the adjacent surfaces of said wheel and bearing pieces; hardened ball-race-forming rings removably arranged in said grooves; bearing balls arranged between adjacent of said rings; and a resilient ring arranged upon each of said bearing pieces engaging the contiguous ball-race-forming ring 'of the wheel for retaining the same in position upon the adjacent bearing piece, upon the removal of the wheel, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses. 'Y

JAMES F. MCKINZIE.

Titnessesz CAROL. W. MCK'INZIE, Joux R. Cour.'

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C. 

